This invention relates to the field of electronic communications. More particularly, a system and methods are provided for protecting information provided during a telephone call.
Many types of personal or sensitive data are exchanged during telephone calls. For example, a caller seeking to purchase a good or service is often required to provide a credit card number, other financial data, a social security number or other information for identifying the caller or a source of funds for the purchase. Such information is almost always provided to a human agent, and that agent may steal it or fail to protect it adequately.
One method of trying to prevent the theft or loss of sensitive information received during a telephone call is to place agents in monitored areas and deny them access to writing implements. However, this does not prevent an agent from remembering a caller's information and transcribing it after leaving the area. And, some agents do not or cannot work in such areas—such as agents working from their homes.
Therefore, there is a need for a system and a method for protecting sensitive information transmitted or passed during a telephone call, to prevent it from being misappropriated by an agent.